>> NOW MORE ON COVID-19-RELATED
NEWS AND THE TOLL THE PANDEMIC
IS TAKING ON THE STATE
WORKFORCE.
THE LATEST REPORT FROM THE
UW-MADISON CENTER ON WISCONSIN
STRATEGY IS A PRODUCT OF THE
CENTER REACHING OUT TO WORKERS
AROUND THE STATE TO BETTER
UNDERSTAND THE IMPACT OF THE
PANDEMIC ON THEM IN A WIDE
VARIETY OF JOB SETTINGS.
LAURA DRESSER IS ASSOCIATE
DIRECTOR OF COWs AND THANKS
VERY MUCH FOR BEING HERE.
>> I'M GLAD TO BE HERE.
THANKS.
>> THE JOBLESS RATE IS IMPROVING
SLIGHTLY, DOWN TO 6.2% IN
AUGUST ACCORDING TO SOME
NUMBERS.
IS THAT REASON FOR SOME
OPTIMISM?
>> FOR SURE.
IT IS GREAT TO SEE THAT RATE GO
DOWN.
THE CONTRACTION FROM THE
SHUTDOWN IN MARCH WAS INTENSE
AND OFF THE CHARTS LIKE NOTHING
WE'VE EVER SEEN.
UNEMPLOYMENT SPIKED UP TO 13.
IT HAS COME DOWN.
IT'S COMING DOWN MORE SLOWLY
NOW.
WE USED TO BE RIGHT AROUND 3%,
3.5.
SO WE'RE STILL QUITE A BIT
HIGHER THAN BEFORE.
AND THE PEOPLE WHO ARE SUFFERING
I THINK ESPECIALLY THE FOLKS
FROM LEISURE AND HOSPITALITY,
RESTAURANTS, HOTELS, THAT'S
WHERE A REALLY INTENSE STORY OF
DISLOCATION AND INCOME LOSS IS
EVEN TODAY.
>> OF COURSE.
WHAT'S THE DISCONNECT BETWEEN
DISCUSSION OF HOW GREAT THE
STOCK MARKET IS DOING AND THE
AVERAGE WISCONSIN WORKER TODAY?
>> I MEAN, THE DISCONNECT IS
PRETTY INTENSE.
WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE HISTORIC
HIGHS, HAVE HIT HISTORIC HIGHS
THIS YEAR IN THE STOCK MARKET IN
SPITE OF THE FACT THAT THIS
ECONOMY IS -- HAS -- HAS -- IS
IN CRISIS FOR SO MANY PEOPLE.
AND I THINK THAT'S REALLY A
CONTRADICTION THAT IN DOING
RESEARCH IN THE ECONOMY WE'VE
TRIED TO POINT OUT ALL THE WAY
ALONG, THAT WHAT WE SEE
HAPPENING IN THE STOCK STOCK MARKET IS
NOT REFLECTED AT THE MIDDLE OF
THE LABOR MARKET AND THE MEDIAN
WORKER'S LIFE IN THIS STATE.
THIS IS THIS EXTREME VERSION
WHERE IN SPITE OF INCREDIBLE
SUFFERING AND DISLOCATION,
ECONOMIC MATERIAL DESPERATION IN
THIS NATION, WE HAVE A KIND OF
DISCONNECTED REALITY FOR THE
RICH.
>> NOW, THE SUPERINTENDENT OF
WISCONSIN SCHOOLS IN HER ANNUAL
ADDRESS THIS WEEK SAID THAT
COVID LAID BARE OPPORTUNITY
GAPS.
FROM AN ECONOMIST'S VANTAGE, HOW
DOES IT ALSO LAY IN ECONOMIC
INEQUALITIES BARE?
>> MAYBE PEOPLE ARE FAMILIAR
WITH THE HEALTH OUTCOMES, WHERE
BLACK AND BROWN COMMUNITIES ARE
THREE TIMES AS LIKELY TO -- THIS
IS NATIONALLY, THREE TIMES AS
LIKELY TO CONTRACT THE DISEASE,
TWICE AS LIKELY TO DIE FROM THE
DISEASE.
BUT UNDERNEATH YOU ALSO SEE
INCREDIBLE -- THE INCOME
DISPARITIES, ESPECIALLY RACIAL
ECONOMIC DISPARITIES EXACERBATED
BY THIS.
I WAS TALKING EARLIER ABOUT
RESTAURANT WORKERS.
THE WORKERS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE
LABOR MARKET, MORE LIKELY IN
RESTAURANTS AND FOOD SERVICE,
ARE THE ONES WHO LOST THEIR
JOBS, WHO CAN'T FIND JOBS TO GO
BACK TO.
IN THE FIRST PLACE, THEY WERE IN
JOBS THAT HAD PRETTY LOW HOURS,
PRETTY VARIABLE WAGES AND LOW
WAGES AND REALLY WEAK BENEFIT
PACKAGES.
THOSE ONES HAVE ABSORBED ALL
THIS INTENSE SHOCK.
THOSE ARE MORE LIKELY BLACK AND
BROWN WORKERS IN THE STATE.
AND ALSO SPECIFICALLY THINKING
ABOUT THE WORKERS IN
MEAT-PACKING PLANTS, WHICH ARE
LARGELY IMMIGRANTS, MOSTLY FROM
LATIN AMERICA IN MOST OF THE
SETTINGS IN THIS STATE THAT HAD
OUTBREAKS, SO THAT THAT INTENSE
-- WAS INTENSELY EXPERIENCED
THROUGH WORK BY THOSE
COMMUNITIES.
>> NOW, YOU DESCRIBE UNCERTAINTY
FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE UNEMPLOYED,
OF COURSE.
BUT WHAT IS THE WORST OF THAT
UNCERTAINTY IN YOUR MIND WITH
REALLY LESS THAN A MINUTE LEFT?
>> THE WORST OF THE UNCERTAINTY
IS I THINK THE INABILITY TO SEE
PENL
PEOPLE TREATING THIS AS A
NATIONAL ECONOMIC CRISIS, WHERE
THE HEALTH CARE -- THE SITUATION
IN OUR HEALTH IS DISPLACING SOME
PEOPLE AND THEY NEED INCOME
SUPPORT TO KEEP FOOD ON THEIR
TABLES AND KEEP THEMSELVES IN
HOUSING.
AND THOSE PEOPLE, ONCE THE EXTRA
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FROM THE
FEDERAL CARES ACT RAN OUT AT THE
END OF JULY, THE NATION HAS
BASICALLY LOOKED AWAY.
THAT PROBLEM HASN'T GONE AWAY
AND COVID HASN'T GONE AWAY AND
THOSE WORKERS ARE IN